The Queen welcomes new family member

Rumours were swirling yesterday that Kate Middleton wanted more kids. But today, there’s a new royal bundle of joy on everyone’s lips.

Queen Elizabeth II has added a new corgi to her pack, adopting an orphaned pup called Whisper.

The dog previously belonged to the late Bill Fenwick, former gamekeeper at royal property Sandringham House in Norfolk.

While he was sick, it is reported that the Queen would take Fenwick's dogs for walks around the Sandringham grounds and has continued to do so since his death earlier this year.

"She couldn't resist Whisper," a source told The Sun. "Now she has asked Bill's family if she can keep him."

While the Queen is famous for her corgis, she has also owned a number of other breeds. In addition to her two corgis Willow and now Whisper, she currently has two "dorgis" (dachshund-corgi mixes) named Candy and Vulcan.

The longtime corgi lover posed for this shot in the salon at Sandringham House in 1970 before touring to Australia and New Zealand. Image: Getty

Corgis have been a part of the royal family since King George VI bought a corgi called Dookie from a local kennel in 1933. They are known as the most well-kept pets in Britain, enjoying a lifestyle of privilege that involves chef-prepared dinners, limousines and castles.

Princess Elizabeth sitting on a garden seat with two corgi dogs at her home in Piccadilly, London in 1936. Image: Getty

The surprise adoption of Whisper comes after HRH's decision to stop breeding the dogs herself.

"The Queen has always had corgis but she made the decision four years ago not to breed anymore because she didn’t want to have a bad fall," a source told The Sun.

In 2015 her favourite corgi breed, the Pembroke Welsh, was added to the UK Kennel Club's "vulnerable breed" list.

"The problem we have is that they are seen as an old person's dog" because of their royal association, lamented award-winning corgi breeder Debbie Richardson to the Daily Mail.

While she's owned more than 30 of the royal pups in her lifetime, Queen Liz recently decided to call it day.